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agentlenet2019-02-11 02:51 pm
warfares) wrote in agentlenet2019-02-11 02:51 pm
Entry tags:
001 ✫ video
( the feed opens to a young man, pale skinned and dark eyed, a scar cutting across the left side of his face. his surroundings, while fairly nondescript, place him in somewhere in the Queen's Residence.)
Does anyone know where I can find a map?
Does anyone know where I can find a map?
audio.
[ as though it were so simple. but she has been in strange territory before, and mapped it from her own memory, from her own experiences. it seems the likeliest solution, if none are available to them. ]
Or ask the Queen for her help.
[ the latter isn't her preference for how it comes as an afterthought. she has brought them here, given them promises — for that, she has rey's current loyalty — but she is still too used to independence to have considered it as a first option. ]
no subject
( he has enough of a working knowledge to accomplish something passable if he has to, but the fact is he shouldn't have to. and not simply because it's a large city that someone is bound to have done the work for him already. )
But as of the moment, I've been volunteered to help with the postal service and would sooner avoid getting lost.
( and does he really want to be going to the Queen with something frivolous like this? even if it is practical.
maybe as a plan B. )
no subject
[ she's not terribly surprised that thought hasn't occurred to him, admittedly. more importantly: ]
You volunteered. For the postal service.
[ what reality is this. ]
no subject
( and, diving in with all his typical enthusiasm, he hadn't considered the fact that he'd have no earthly idea where anything was. )
Perhaps I will.
no subject
[ is she going to let him live this down? no. there's probably some sliver of amused satisfaction in that, too. the point still stands — ben is the last person she would have volunteered for the job. ]
You're not going to actually ask them, are you.
no subject
I might have no choice.
( he hates this so much. )
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[ admittedly, this is entertaining her more than it should. ]
Can't you track them?
[ it should be suggestive of her shoddy, cobbled together education via luke skywalker that she isn't aware that isn't how the force works. to rey, it seems a valid suggestion; their powers have increased. the idea that he might be able to follow his recipient's doesn't strike her as far-fetched in the least. ]
no subject
( dry as the sands of Jakku. )
In theory, there are many things I could do with the right amount of time and preparation. However, given the urgent nature of this task, perhaps a map would be easier.
no subject
In reality, you don't have a map.
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( slipping the title in like one might slide a blade between ribs. more elegant than you'd think a man like him capable of. )
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[ it's clipped, guard rising. he knows her too well, she thinks, for it not to be an insult of its own — a reminder of where she had come from. people like rey never receive that courteousness, and she hardly expects it from him. if anything, she can hear the whisper of scavenger between the lines. ]
It wasn't anything but a statement.
no subject
( unseen, his mouth curls, satisfied at having landed a blow. stealing some of her own satisfaction, in turn.
she knows him too well. )
Lady Rey of Jakku. It has a pleasant ring to it.
no subject
[ there's a bite to it that implies she believes he would, even after all they've exchanged. it's what he's getting at, anyway. ]
It must bother you to have to defer to me.
[ in rank, and as a woman. higher than him, here, on those merits alone. ]
no subject
( which she had rejected rather rudely. )
No. Though it clearly bothers you immensely.
no subject
[ that's all it had been, in the end. join me and destroy your friends, or i'll do it for you. she knows well enough to read between the lines. ]
Having more power than you has never bothered me. [ the barb is there, unmistakable, in its attempt to prick. ] Don't pretend you didn't use it as an insult, Ben.
[ that facade of ignorance, of pretending it's the ranking she has received here that perturbs and not his clear derision, is doubly insulting. ]
no subject
( oh, he knows.
he knows exactly what she is doing, and as much as he buries that bristle of anger beneath that facade of calm, it's there. a twitch in the corner of his eye. )
Regardless, I would grow accustomed to it. I don't imagine we'll be leaving any time soon.
no subject
[ the attempt to tear her down, that is, and pretend that she is the one uncomfortable with the power and regard she has been given here — excusing his callous treatment of her, of her upbringing, in the process by blaming her for her own feelings.
it's enough to make her believe she has struck a cord simply by daring to exist with power over him. ]
There is no 'we.'
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( how can the Hunter's Guild continue in such open defiance of the Queen? has he really been dragged in to save another toothless government that is probably mired in all manner of corruption. )
There is, and there will always be until the day you kill me.
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[ it's a barb, undoubtedly, thrown back in his face. she'd agree with him, otherwise, but he has already set her blood boiling. ]
I've shut you out before. [ there is, undeniably, a satisfied edge to her voice. a predator, moving in, canines out. ] I'm stronger now. I can do it again.
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( he snarls back, unthinking. )
We'll see.
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[ it's laughable, almost, if it weren't so infuriating. ]
You'll see when it's broken.
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( ... well, no. that's not strictly true. he's plenty interested about parts of this place. the jewels ㅡ where they are drawn from, how they are chosen ㅡ in particular. )
And their Queen would offer little challenge as she is now. Hardly worth the effort.
( honestly, there's a begrudging respect for the woman. she'd drawn ㅡ successfully, at that ㅡ twenty people across time and space, and survived. but he's still angry, still suspicious.
her threat to break the bond will trouble him later, once his ire has cooled. he is surprised, truthfully, to find it still in tact after how they had parted ways before. )
no subject
[ it's not confidence, or even a call on a bluff, despite the slight inkling that it is just that — a bluff, meant to rile her. it's a clipped warning, biting and feral in its edge, with clear implications.
he can try, but she'll be standing in his way.
there's a beat, small, with the sound of her breath heaving out through her nostrils heavily — and then, harsher and far more angrier than that inherent threat: ]
You're hardly worth my effort.
[ it's untrue in the grander scheme — more than. but in the moment, it's a jab she can't stop herself from giving before she ends the connection to leave him with empty air instead, and the wavering of their connection before it does cinch tight. she can't disguise herself on his end, can't end it — but her end remains still like water, quiet and unmoving. ]